Trail .22s

Winning the 'bou lottery made me think about trail .22s.

In area 7 the time we'll be up there, we can go after 'bou, black bear, and rams; I'll probably pony up for a light weight centerfire .308 win to bring on the trip. The mosin could handle it but I may not feel like lugging a 8 lbs/51" flagpole around with me on a four day hike.

We'll probably also bring a can of bear mace and the revolver (one for each of us).

On the small game side, the season will be open for wolves, coyotes, squirrels, grouse, hares, and ptarmigan. So it is tempting to bring along a .22 of some sort.

• We could bring along one we already own. The mountie or 10/22 RPF make good candidates. Both weigh in around 5 lbs and 36" overall length.
• We could also use the .22 LR single action revolver DW already owns.
  
• I plan on building a compact 10/22 with a 16" barrel and folding stock. While shorter in overall length, this will still be a heavy 5 lbs.
• We could build a lightweight 10/22 as described earlier. This can get down to 3.5 lbs.
• A cheaper option would be getting a Marlin Papoose, also down to about 3.5 lbs.
• A Ruger Single-Six target revolver or other target pistol might be appropriate too. I like the Single Six due to the possibility of using .22 magnum as well as .22 LR. This weighs in at just over 2 lbs and is obviously lighter than the rifle would be.
• A .410 gauge Snake Charmer shotgun at 3 lbs.
  

Another option would be carrying some light .38 specials for the trail revolver. Then there is an option to load up the 200 gr corbons for bear and the .38 special for smaller stuff. I've used .38 special from the lever gun on grouse and it works just fine, without damaging much meat at all.